Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is still waiting for Sri Lanka’s positive response about the proposed three-match Test series, chairman of media and communication committee of BCB Jalal Younus said Thursday. 

This series was originally scheduled for July-August this year. But due to Covid-19 pandemic, the involved parties rescheduled it for October-November. 

Bangladesh national team is due to fly to Sri Lanka on September 27 but the regulation of Sri Lanka to prevent the spread of the virus put a big question before this plan.

As per Sri Lanka’s regulation, everyone who enters the island nation will have to maintain a strict 14-day quarantine. But BCB asked Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to trim this period to seven days. SLC said they have no problem with this but the health authority of Sri Lanka refused the proposal putting the series into jeopardy. 

“We’re yet to get a response from SLC. But as we understand, this matter is beyond SLC’s control. A special task force oversees the Covid-19 situation in Sri Lanka. If they allow us to tour the country with a shorter quarantine period, they’ll inform SLC and then they’ll tell us about it. What we have asked them is to ensure a shorter quarantine period and allow us to train during that period,” Jalal Younus told the media. 

This week, Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president told the media that if Sri Lanka stays firm on their current regulation of a mandatory 14-day quarantine, Bangladesh might not continue with the tour.

At this stage, Namal Rajapaksa, the cabinet minister of youth affairs and sports of Sri Lanka, urged SLC to negotiate with the health department so that they find a way to ease the restriction for the Tigers and make the series happens. 

SLC also came up with a new idea of two-country quarantine. As per this idea, Bangladesh team can stay isolated for seven days in Bangladesh before flying to Sri Lanka and undergo another seven-days isolation after reaching the island nation. 

But this idea seems nearly impossible. Neither the health department of Sri Lanka nor the BCB has so far said anything about the two-country quarantine idea. 

Despite the uncertainty over the tour, BCB is preparing the squad according to the previous plan. But the ongoing individual and small group training programme is on hold for three days. It will resume on September 20. Jalal Younus said the Bangladesh team is already prepared well for this tour.

“We’re well prepared for the tour. If they come up with a positive response, we can fly to Sri Lanka within a week. But if they delay more than a couple of days, it will make our preparation tough, and in that case, we have to think anew,” Jalal said.

Also read: Sri Lanka tour not possible now: BCB chief

Members of Bangladesh national cricket team will undergo another Covid-19 test on Friday.

It will be their second out of four tests which will be conducted ahead of the proposed tour of Sri Lanka for a three-match Test series.

The first test was done 10 days ago. If the tour goes ahead as planned, the cricketers will have to undergo two more tests. 

In the first test, Saif Hassan, the left-handed opener tested positive along with the head of physical training Nicholas Lee who tested negative later. Saif again tested positive this week.

Also Read- Sri Lanka tour: Cricketers to undergo Covid-19 test

Sources close to the selection committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said 27 players have been given government orders (GO) to travel to Sri Lanka. 

The series, however, is still in jeopardy as Sri Lankan health authorities are reluctant to ease quarantine restriction for the Tigers which BCB had asked for earlier. 

As per Sri Lanka’s regulation, everyone who enters the island nation will have to maintain a strict 14-day quarantine. But BCB asked Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to reduce this period to seven days. SLC said they have no problem with this but the health authorities refused the proposal of SLC, throwing the series into jeopardy. 

This week, BCB President Nazmul Hassan told the media that if Sri Lanka stays firm on their current regulation of a mandatory 14-day quarantine, Bangladesh might not continue with the tour. 

Also Read- Test series: Bangladesh may tour Sri Lanka in October

At this stage, Namal Rajapaksa, the cabinet minister of youth affairs and sports of Sri Lanka, urged SLC to negotiate with the health department so that they find a way to ease the restriction and make the series happens. 

SLC also came up with a new idea of two-country quarantine. Tigers can stay isolated for seven days in Bangladesh before flying to Sri Lanka and complete another seven-day isolation after reaching the island nation. 

But this idea seems to be nearly impossible one. Neither the health department of Sri Lanka nor BCB have so far said anything about the idea. 

Despite uncertainty over the tour, BCB is preparing the squad as it was planned earlier. But the ongoing individual and small group training programme is on hold for three days. It will resume on September 20.

Former Bangladesh cricketer, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) member and councillor ASM Faruque died on Wednesday in Dhaka after a cardiac arrest. He was 75.

In a condolence letter, BCB has extended deepest sympathies to the family of ASM Faruque.

Faruque was one of Bangladesh team members when Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) visited Bangladesh as the first touring team after the independence  in 1971. As an administrator, Faruque played various roles with the BCB.

In the World Cup 2003 and in the ICC U-19 World Cup 2016, Faruque was the team manager of Bangladesh team. In 2007, he led the game development committee of BCB, and he was a member of the technical committee formed by current BCB boss Nazmul Hassan.

Faruque was also a selector of Asian side during the Afro-Asia Cup 2007. Bangladesh’s all-time best cricketers- Mohammad Rafique, Masrhafe Bin Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal- featured in that event of Afro-Asia Cup.

While the three-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is in jeopardy,  hosts Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) came up with an unheard-of idea of two-country quarantine. However, the idea is yet to get consent from the Sri Lanka government. 

As per the regulations of Sri Lanka health department, everyone who enters Sri Lanka requires a 14-day quarantine upon the arrival in the island nation. But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has refused to maintain a 14-day quarantine. They rather urged to trim the quarantine period to seven days, which has seen a refusal from Sri Lanka health department. 

Ravin Wickramaratne, the vice-president said: “We had a positive meeting with the Covid-19 Task Force, and everyone was in agreement that we should make this tour happens. We had a positive meeting with the Covid-19 Task Force yesterday, and everyone was in agreement that we should make this tour happen.”

Sri Lankan health department is more concern about the Covid-19. They have worked very hard to contain the deadly virus. They earned worldwide admiration for their work which has made the citizens of Sri Lanka go back to nearly normal life. 

As a result of this situation, the series has fallen into jeopardy. After the refusal of BCB, Namal Rajapaksa, the cabinet minister of youth affairs and sports, urged SLC to discuss more with the health department to make the series happens. 

In the latest move to make the series takes the place in time, SLC is trying to convince their health department to allow Bangladesh national team a two-country quarantine- in which, Bangladesh players will maintain a seven-day quarantine in Dhaka before flying for Sri Lanka and more seven-days after reaching the island nation. 

However, this idea is unlikely to get a positive response from the health department of Sri Lanka as a two-country quarantine idea seems to be a fictional move because it’s nearly impossible to maintain a bio-secure bubble when an international flight is a must. 

BCB is yet to make a comment on the idea of a two-country quarantine. They are so far strict on their previous stance of seven-day quarantine after reaching  Sri Lanka.

Also read: Sri Lanka tour not possible now: BCB chief

This series was originally scheduled for July-August, but the Covid-19 situation forced the involving parties to reschedule the in October-November.

Former national skipper and most reliable national cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim  has met cricket-loving Sheikh Yeamin Sinan after a photo  of the 11 years old boy playing cricket with his mother Jhorna Akhter at Paltan Maidan went viral on social media.

Mushfiqur Rahim met Yeamin and his mother at Banani ground in the city on Wednesday and gave some gifts including gloves, jersey and an autographed memorabilia bat.

Replying to a question from reporters, Jhorna Akhter said, “I wanted to become a cricketer, but after marriage I couldn’t go forward with my dream. I wish to see my son become a cricketer, but now I’m seeing that he himself wants to become a cricketer more than me,”

Yeamin said, “My mother is my best friend. So I want what my mother wants. I play cricket since my childhood and Maa used to play too. My favourite player is Mushfiqur Rahim.”

When asked why Mushfiqur came to meet the kid, the batsman said that he always like to meet fans like Yeamin.

“The young generation is our inspiration. There are some people like Yeamin who follow us and we feel very good when we see this. It encourages us and I’m thankful to Allah that he has given me an opportunity like this,” he told reporters.

“I’m pretty sure there are more cricket fans like Yeamin and I wish to interact with them. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, but luckily I was able to meet this time,” he said.

“The thing that I liked most is hearing the story of Yeamin’s mother. She wanted to become a cricketer, it didn’t happen. But she is now trying to make her son’s dream come true and doing all the struggles for it. “

“I pray and hope that he won’t become like me, but even a better cricketer than me,” Mushfiqur further added.